“High school is the best time of your life.” That‘s what they say. Whoever they might be. Actually, some people do say that and even mean it. Then there’s the rest of us, those whose lives were much better after high school…. Read More ›
Teaching & Learning
Graphing calculator prices: how TI cornered the market
You’re a student. Why are you required to buy a Texas Instruments calculator? Why not something cheaper and better? Usually what you’re buying is a TI-84, a 15-year-old piece of expensive technology. Zachary Crockett explains how we got into this… Read More ›
Linguistics in MetroWest
For many years I inserted linguistic lagniappes into my honors geometry classes at Weston — typically for 15–20 minutes, twice a month. You may wonder what the connection between linguistics and geometry might be — but if you view honors geometry as… Read More ›
“America’s math curriculum doesn’t add up,” observes Steve Levitt.
Please listen to (or read) this week’s Freakonomics podcast. I will wait. No, actually, I’m going to discuss it without making any prior assumptions that you have listened to it or read it: If you’ve been reading this blog for… Read More ›
What is “quantitative reasoning”?
If you read this blog regularly, you know that I teach a course with the strange title of “Quantitative Reasoning.” What does that mean? I’ll describe the course in general, followed by specifics of all four units. Generally referred to… Read More ›
What Has Become of You
Academic settings… disturbed and/or disturbing people… why do I keep reading such novels? Well, we know why the academic settings appeal to me. As for the characters, that’s harder to analyze. I suppose I’d like to understand some of the… Read More ›
Loner
Take a look: he’s a nerdy Jewish kid from New Jersey, known as a “nice guy,” intellectually passionate but awkward in social situations. He’s starting his first day as a Harvard freshmen. How could I resist this 2016 novel by… Read More ›
My dad, wearing many hats
“What does your dad do?” people used to ask me when I was a kid. Always my dad, not my mom, even though she too was a professional. Things have changed today (I think). This article is about my dad,… Read More ›
Found in a book… and some linguistic remarks
So I‘m sitting next to one of my bookshelves this morning, and I happen to notice an old French paperback. I say to myself “I wonder if I can still read French.” (The answer is “not so well.”) I pick… Read More ›
Supreme Musical Artists of the Past Fifty Years
Michael Jackson? Tupac? What do you think — who are the supreme musical artists of the past fifty years? As some of you know, the sophomores of the Crimson Summer Academy vote every summer for which three artists should hold… Read More ›
